Rich DeVos, Co-Founder of Amway Corporation, Part IV: "Nobody is Just an Anything"

I tried to sell Amway products once, but because I am not an effective salesman, my efforts failed. However, while trying, I purchased some motivational tapes from the company. I didn’t like many but I loved one of them. I learned a lot from it and listened often. One of the two founders of the Amway Corporation, Rich DeVos, spoke in front of a group of about 1,800 young people at the 23rd annual Junior Achievers conference sometime in 1966. You may object to his attitude, and DeVos might not say things the same way today, but the message is “boss, man!”

Last time I ended Part III by saying that Mr. DeVos appreciated the work of the garbage men (now known as ‘sanitation workers’) who came to his house. Here’s his depiction of when he met them one morning… and more…

Rich DeVos, Part IV:

Selling America, by Rich DeVos.

…I had an interesting experience because - - I like garbage men. You wouldn't believe that. Yeah, you can tell that… I’ll tell you that.

But I went out… For four weeks in a row… This fellow comes by at 6:30 in the morning… Because I wanted to meet him I said, “Hi, how are you this morning? I just came out to tell you I appreciate your coming…”

He looked at me and he said, “Are you just getting up, or are you just coming in?” (laughter) He wasn’t sure…

I said, “No, no, really – I just came out to say, ‘hello.’” I said, “I appreciate your coming by."

[To the kids in the audience] Now, if you don’t think you appreciate his coming by (your home) you just let him skip you a couple times. (laughter) You’ll find out how important he is in your life. (laughter)

Inspirational quote, by Rich DeVos.

You know about the fourth time I went out there I said, “I'm just coming out to say hello again. I really mean it. I appreciate your coming. Do you realize how important the work is that you do? What it does for the sanitation of this community? How it protects the health and well-being of all the people?

And he says, “Well, I’ll be damned!” (laughter, then applause)

[To the kids in the audience] Now, I don’t like to use that language, but I portray to you his attitude. He said, “I’ve been picking up garbage for years, man. Nobody ever told me that!” (mild laughter)

And, I’d say to you, “Isn’t it too bad that a fellow American, who’s doing what he’s able to do has had no one tell him how important his work is?

Rich DeVos, a winner’s smile.

He [the man picking up garbage] says [to Rich DeVos], you know, “You’re one in a million.” (To the audience:) Well, I don’t want to be one in a million, and I ask you as you go on to positions of leadership to join me in a crusade of respectability for all your fellow Americans. And I hope you go on to college and get a Ph.D. or whatever it is you’re seeking. But I hope you'll always remember that it doesn’t make you better than the next guy. – It gives you greater responsibility.

I marvel at the Ph.D. who works for us, and he’s a wonderful man. I look at the chemist we have and I notice how helpless they are when it comes to emptying the wastebasket.

And then I look at the people who come to work and [they] work on the line and I look at the school bus driver. Well [some people say], “he’s just a bus driver.” And the other people say, “Well, he’s just a businessman.” “He’s just a salesman.” Will we eradicate the word ‘just’ from your vocabulary? Nobody is just an anything! He’s a man or a woman doing what he knows how to do best. That’s the real sign.

Dare to Battle - Rich DeVos.

So, if a guy fixes your car, remember to greet him. Remember to thank him. And if all of us will begin to do this, we can change America. We can break down the barriers between, (in a sarcastic tone:) “I’m better than you.” There’s too much of it! So, let’s join me in the crusade. Let’s remember that the little things [we do and say] make a difference.

Mark A. Cohen currently sits on the committee which hosted the previous Castle Rock Writers Conference on October 23, 2013. He is currently their Vice-President. The group, whose motto is Rock Solid Writing, is seeking its 501c3.